Support Overthinking It by becoming a member for $5/month!

Pete Fenzel and Matt Wrather hold a storied two-hander on Ted Danson’s new Netflix retirement home spy sitcom, A Man on the Inside, which rides the lines among funny and solemn; easy and challenging; and polemic and hagiography. We dig deep on the “All the World’s a Stage” monologue from Shakespeare’s As You Like It, which is heavily featured in the show, and broaden the conversation to the literary project of using storytelling to inspire humans to find common interest and empathy in their shared condition and mortality. Comedic floors come up, by which a baseline of silliness might be established to soften the cruelty of jokes and satire. We talk sandwiches, specifically those in their 40s and 50s caring for both aging parents and growing teenagers. Matt updates us on his transition into fatherhood and the experience of reading to his daughter, while Pete goes off about dementia, compassion, and dignity in all stages of life. The question as to how exactly this show will manage a second season will have to wait for another podcast.

Download (MP3)

Subscribe: iTunes Other Apps

Further Reading

• “All the World’s a Stage: The Seven Ages of Man” from William Shakespeare’s As You Like It, performed solo by Benedict Cumberbatch (The Shakespeare Network
• “The Sandwich Generation: Rising Financial Burdens for Middle-Aged Americans” (Pew Research Center, 2013)
• The Iliad, Book 24: Achilles and Priam, performed by Ananke
• How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question, by showrunner Michael Schur on Goodreads
• A Man on the Inside Cast: Who Stars Alongside Ted Danson, from RadioTimes
• OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies on the Internet Movie Database / A Man on the Inside Poster, from the Internet Movie Database